EF1 tornado, Lisbon to Arbury Hills, Illinois, July 15, 2024

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF1

Date

July 15, 2024

Touchdown

9:06 PM CDT (02:06 UTC)

Lifted

9:26 PM CDT (02:26 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

19.5 miles (31.4 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Counties

Kendall and Will counties

Touchdown point

41.465, -88.403

Lift-off point

41.541, -88.043

Record number

2407152006-01

190 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LOT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 130 mph.

• Semi flipped over in the parking lot, hardwood and software trees snapped and uprooted, wooden power pole snapped, multiple metal support structures for powerlines collapsed. Several trailers with 50,000 lb of load picked up and thrown.
• Digital mobile road sign blown over to the east.
• Near probable start point in Yorkville
• Lots of tree damage including snapped tops but no structural damage noted. All seemingly toward same direction.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A derecho moved across northern Illinois during the evening of July 15th producing widespread wind damage and 30 tornadoes in northeast Illinois. One of these tornadoes crossed into northwest Indiana. At the height of the storms, 430,000 customers lost power with some power not restored for four days, on July 19th.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 110 mph touched down just east of Ashley Road about halfway between Sherrill Road and Whitewillow Road. The tornado moved east northeast producing sporadic tree damage until it crossed County Line Road and moved into Will County, just south of Mound Road.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 100 mph which touched down in Kendall County crossed into Will County just west of the intersection of Route 30 and Eola Road. The tornado moved east northeast producing tree damage along its path. Several small trees were snapped between 95th Street and 103rd Street. The tornado crossed Route 14 and numerous tree limbs were blown down just north of Knoch Knolls Road. The tornado crossed Washington Street and continued producing tree damage until it ended near Kelm Road just south of Walnut Ridge Park.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 80 mph touched down in a field south of Caton Farm Road and west of Arbeiter Road. The tornado moved east northeast through the Greywell Club subdivision where it caused damage to trees and fences as well as minor roof damage. The tornado crossed Ridge Road where it snapped a tall tree trunk in the middle and then damaged the roof of the Plainfield South High School. The tornado crossed Caton Farm Road and moved east northeast crossing into Will County just south of Desert Drive.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 80 mph touched down in Kendall County and crossed into Will County between Caton Farm Road and Desert Drive. The tornado produced sporadic tree damage north of Caton Farm Road, then crossed Route 59 and produced quite a bit of tree damage on Arbor Creek Drive. The tornado crossed Interstate 55 and moved over the Louis Joliet Mall. Roof and fascia damage occurred to a church just east of the mall at the corner of Route 30 and Hennepin Drive. The tornado jogged northeast and crossed the intersection of Weber Road and Division Street, where it produced minor roof and fascia damage to homes along with continued sporadic tree damage. The tornado continued producing sporadic tree damage as it moved east crossing Route 53 and then the Des Plaines River. The tornado moved across Lockport where tree limbs and fences were blown down. Tree damage continued as the tornado crossed Interstate 355. Numerous trees were snapped and fences were blown down east through Cedar Road where the tornado ended.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 110 mph which touched down in Kendall County crossed into Will County just south of Mound Road. It quickly crossed Mound Road where it produced damage to numerous trees and outbuildings. The tornado continued to produce tree damage in Shorewood, including snapped trees. It crossed the Fox River and caused a partial roof collapse to a home on Canterbury Street. Two people inside the house were injured. The tornado continued moving northeast, crossing Interstate 55 and snapping trees in a forest preserve south of the Joliet Regional Airport. Several trees were uprooted in a subdivision near McDonough Street and Houbolt Road. Damage to corn crops also occurred in this area. The tornado continued moving northeast across the Inwood Golf Course. Over 100 trees were damaged, some snapped, others uprooted. Some of the trees that were damaged were 70 years old. The tornado crossed the intersection of Route 52 and Larkin Avenue. Significant tree damage, power line damage and utility pole damage occurred in this area. Numerous roofs were also damaged including a church on Midland Avenue just north of Route 52. The tornado was likely at peak intensity as it moved through the golf course to areas east of Larkin Avenue. The tornado continued producing tree damage as it moved northeast and crossed the Des Plaines River. After crossing the river, the tornado began to weaken producing sporadic tree damage until it ended near the intersection of Route 6 and Briggs Street.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 130 mph which touched down in Grundy County and crossed into Will County between Lauren Drive and Old Kerry Grove Road. The tornado was likely at its maximum path width of 325 yards as it was crossing into Will County. Several trees and utility poles were blown down in this area. Some homes suffered minor roof damage just west of McKinley Woods Road. Peak wind speeds of 90 mph were estimated in this area. The tornado crossed Durkee Road and increased to its peak intensity of 130 mph as it moved across Interstate 55. In this area, two metal trusses collapsed which caused several high tension power lines to fall across Interstate 55. When these high tension lines fell, two semi trucks hit the lines and crashed into each other. Five other vehicles were involved and stuck under and between the high tension lines. Two people were injured and another person had to wait several hours before it was safe to exit their car. Interstate 55 was closed until the morning of July 18th while the high tension lines were repaired and debris was removed. Just west of Interstate 55, several parked semi trucks and trailers were overturned and an office building suffered significant roof damage. A pickup truck was flipped over and a van was blown onto its side. Significant damage to trees, utility poles and power lines also occurred in this area. The tornado continued moving northeast and produced significant tree and utility pole damage along and south of Manhattan Road, just west of Route 53, including damage to mature oak trees and several utility poles snapped along Munch Lane. Several homes in this area suffered roof damage consisting of numerous shingles removed. The tornado moved through the Ranch Oaks subdivision just west of Route 52 and south of Jackson Creek causing widespread tree and power line damage. Some trees fell onto houses, other trees fell onto cars. Significant tree damage continued as the tornado crossed Route 52. At least one house suffered structural damage when a large tree fell on it. Roof damage occurred to several large farm storage buildings as the tornado crossed Baker Road just west of Eastern Avenue. Tree damage continued along the rest of the path of the tornado in Will County with the tornado crossing Route 45 and then several trees were snapped and uprooted near the Prestwick Country Club. The tornado crossed Harlem Avenue and moved into Cook County.

A tornado with estimated peak winds of 85 mph touched down near Francis Road just west of Front Street, then roughly paralleled Front Street and the railroad tracks through downtown Mokena. Damage along the path consisted of numerous trees, tree limbs and fences blown down, as well as a few instances of structural damage, mainly to roofs of a few buildings. Utility poles and power lines were also damaged. The tornado crossed Route 45 and ended near 96th Avenue.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

2 minutes of warning. NWS LOT issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:04 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:11 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:53 UTC and running to 03:20 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:47 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 16 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in IllinoisEvery tornado in Illinois since 1950Warnings in force in Illinois nowThe forecast where you are

61 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 62 of them

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.